The photograph shows the Mother and Toddler Float in the 1981 Hambleton Gala. In the early and mid 1970's the size of the village grew considerably, and with new families moving in, the facilities for them to meet new people - especially Mums with small babies and children under Playschool age - was limited. Three Mums who had lived in the village several years, Mrs. Jenny Banks, Mrs. Christine North and Mrs. Ingrid Millington held an open meeting in the Old School to find out the level of support for a Mothers and Toddlers Group.
Following that meeting a Committee was formed and in September 1978 Mothers and Toddlers held its first meeting in the Old School followed by term time, weekly sessions on a Wednesday afternoon. The committee met regularly, usually in a committee member's home, to organise fund raising events, parties, wrap Christmas presents and the Mothers and Toddlers part in the Summer Fair. As the Group was in its infancy there was no fund to purchase toys for the children so parents were asked to bring along toys which could be shared with other children. Fund raising over a period of time ensured that new toys were eventually purchased. The highlights of the year were Easter and Christmas with Easter eggs being given to each child and at Christmas a party was held with presents and the attendance of Father Christmas.
Mothers and Toddlers also took part in the village Summer Fairs and each year decorated a themed float for the children to ride on. Parents and children dressed up and walked or rode in the procession along the Main Road from the village green to the school in Gateforth Lane, where the procession of floats was then judged. Minor alterations to the main hall of the Old School helped with the storage of the children's toys but there was quite a high turnover of soft toys because of damp. Eventually, because the facilities at the Old School deteriorated quite rapidly, Mothers and Toddlers moved into the new village hall with better storage and refreshment facilities and space for the children to play outside during the summer months and a bigger internal space for play with the weekly sessions moving from Wednesday afternoon to Wednesday morning.